About the conference
ACES VCON23 was held online September 27–29, 2023. Attendees came from a wide variety of industries and specialties around the globe.
Sessions were organized into five tracks: business of editing, core editing skills, health and wellness, panel discussions, and words and language. Each session was offered at an introductory, intermediate, or advanced level.
Coffee Chats returned for the virtual conference. These were 30-minute small-group discussions of eight people, each led by a table host, held between sessions each day.
Coffee Chat groups were organized by specialty:
- Academic
- Government
- Corporate
- Print and digital
- Proofreading
- Technical and medical
- Freelance
Attendees could also visit exhibitors during breaks and lunch each day.
Keynote speakers
Deb Amlen
Deb Amlen delivered the keynote at the opening session on Wednesday, September 27. She is the lead columnist for The New York Times’ daily “Wordplay” column, where she entertains and challenges puzzle lovers from all over the world.
Her books include “It’s Not P.M.S., It’s You” and “Create Your Life Lists.” Her work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Huffington Post, and David Pogue’s Yahoo Tech magazine, where she was a founding columnist.
R.L. Stine
R.L. Stine, one of the best-selling children’s authors in history, delivered the keynote session “Ask Me Anything with R.L. Stine” on Thursday, September 28. He answered questions submitted in advance by attendees.
His Goosebumps series has more than 400 million books in print in 32 languages. His other children’s book series include Fear Street, Mostly Ghostly, The Nightmare Room, and Rotten School.
Julie Wilkes
Julie Wilkes opened the final day, Friday, September 29, with a well-being session. She is a heart disease survivor, author, motivational speaker, and entrepreneur focused on health, well-being, mindfulness, and culture.
She is a PhD candidate in organizational psychology and holds a master’s degree in exercise physiology. She has presented at venues including the Tower of London, the White House, the US Chamber of Commerce, and TED Talks.
Sessions
Business of editing
- Know What You’re Getting Into — Learn How to Identify Your Boundaries and Vet Indie Projects for Sensitive Themes — Amelia Winters
- Oops — A Human Didn’t Write This — Amy Frushour Kelly
- The Coaching Instinct — Caroline Malloy and Nadia Geagea Pupa
- The Secret Sauce to Becoming Invaluable: Add a Dash of Instructional Design — Hilary Kirchner
- Anti-hustle Marketing and Business Development for Freelancers — Letitia Henville
- Editing for and in the Government: 2.0 — Melissa Cichantek, Kim Cragg, and Leslie Poster
- Social Media and Website Accessibility Workshop — Eric Ascher
- The Job Hunt: Building an Industry-Focused Skill Set — Jess Jelma Masterson
Core editing skills
- Collaboration in Action: Working with Subject Matter Experts to Get on the Same Page — Rachel Stroup
- Collaborative Editing: How to Edit Effectively as Part of a Team — Jenny Lass
- Editing for Accessibility: Going Beyond Automated Checkers — Griffin Zimmerman
- Editing for Disability Inclusion — Kristen Gilger
- Editing with Empathy: How to Craft a Positive Editor/Author Relationship — Erin Servais
- Fast Searches and Deep Sources for Editors — Melanie Faizer
- ISO’s New Plain Language Standards — How They Can Enhance Your Editing Even If You’re Not a Plain Language Expert — Samantha Enslen
- An Introduction to Developmental Editing for Non-Fiction — Claire Beveridge
- Becoming a Microsoft Word Power User: Customizations, Shortcuts, Wildcards, and Macros — Suzy Bills
- ChatGPT: The Threat, the Promise, and How It’s Affecting Editing — Samantha Enslen
- Confident Querying, Without the Ego — Christine Steele and Lourdes Venard
- Editing Books for Young Readers — Jennifer Navarre
- Timeless Basic Math: Lessons from Henry Fuhrmann’s Math Books — Neil Holdway
- Transforming AI as Your Content Sidekick: Core Practices to Focus on for B2B/B2C Content Editing — Patricia Mae Estenoso
- We Need to Talk: Communication Tips to Help Editors Help Writers — Rachel Lussos
- Working with First-Time Authors — Jennia D’Lima
Health and wellness
- Perfectly Imperfect: Accepting and Embracing “Good Enough” — Rhonda Kronyk
- Supporting Neurodivergent Authors — Cate Ryan
- Feel Good Where You Work: The Secret Ingredient to Editing Well Over the Long Haul — Hannah de Keijzer
Panel discussions
- Updates to APA’s Inclusive Language Guide — Efua Andoh, Chelsea Lee, Meggin van der Hilst, and Mia Smith-Bynum
- When Niching Down Isn’t for You — Carolina VonKampen, Emily Stewart, Genevieve Clovis, and Tanya Gold
- Both Sides of the Page: From Editor to Author and Back Again — Brenna Bailey-Davies, Genevieve Clovis, Laura Bontje, and Molly Rookwood
- Through the Looking Glass: A Different Lens from Disabled, Chronically Ill, and Neurodivergent Editors — Antonn Park, Shannon Scott, and Vee White, moderated by Kyra Freestar
Words and language
- Using Copy Editing to … Save the Earth? — Laura Standley
- Beyond the Gender Binary: Editing for More Inclusive Fiction — Eliot West and Tanya Gold
- Editing for Equity through Sentence Structure, Framing, and Narrative — Sabrina Ashwell
- Stylebook by Committee — Julie Kliegman
- What’s New in AP Style? — Paula Froke and Colleen Newvine
- Accessible and Inclusive UX Writing — Cheryl Cline
- AI Translators vs. Language Justice — Sofía Jarrín
- Food for Thought: How We Talk About Food and Weight and Why It Matters — Jill Campbell